It wasn't often Horkion found himself angry. He just wasn't that sort of person. He was mild-mannered, easy-going, and forgiving. But to see what had been done to the Judicial Deck…it filled him with a low-burning fury. Laswe didn't look much better. As their subordinates carefully and anxiously picked over the bodies, his translucent flesh kept going from shades of red to purple.

One of the Master Guardians stooped over a corpse with both its legs ripped off and shook his head. "The fighting never even reached the judicial deck," he observed aloud, "Someone deliberately worked-over these bodies and moved them here."

"This is our fault," Horkion reverberated.

"Shut up," Laswe testily hissed.

"We shouldn't have tried to just sweep things under."

"I said shut up, sand-brain!" Laswe snapped, his wings giving off that irritable buzz, "I'm trying to think here!"

Horkion was trying to think too. He was trying to think about that vision Misado had given him and the terrible feeling of dread that had come over him. Horkion didn't have many of the abilities his fellows shared – not Oom'Bagu's empathic abilities or Laswe's powerful energy sense. But he did have a warrior's gut instincts. And they were screaming 'danger' at him. Something terrible was coming.

"Clear the way," said a low, harsh voice.

Everyone's attentions were drawn away from the littered bodies to the towering Blecha flanked by several able bodies. Horkion felt a strange twinge in his gut as he observed them, their black uniforms marked by red stripes instead of white. The Marshal Core. Men and women he and Laswe had trained, but Nevrrest had hand-picked to be her 'hunters' as she called them. They were the ones who captured criminals. Except in special cases where the original six Justiciars were needed. Like Vegeta.

None of them talked much. Those seemed to be the sort that were drawn to Nevrrest. Spoke little. Fought very well. Seeing them with Nevrrest set off all kind of internal sirens.

Especially since… "You're supposed to be in your room!" Horkion reminded, upset, "Oom'Bagu said for you to stay there!"

Nevrrest stopped and gave him a grim, angry look. "Don't mention Oom'Bagu to me. Not after what's…" She trailed off, twitching like she was holding in pain.

Laswe was the only one who hadn't stopped looking at the bodies, his hand under his chin and his fat, jiggly tail wagging with agitation. "Hm? What-what? Something's happened to Oom'Bagu?" he jerked out of it and looked pointedly at Nevrrest, "What the hell are you doing out of you room?!"

"Working, Daddy," she sneered.

Laswe looked at her, stunned. "…Whaaaat the hell happened? Your energy is…something's wrong."

"I expect it is," she shot spitefully back, "After what just…" She fell short again, looking truly upset.

The warnings in Horkion were growing, howling like a beast now. "What's happened?"

The marshals drew closer to Nevrrest, like they were daring someone to give them a reason to flatten their faces. Nevrrest's tail thumped the floor several times, pounding like a drum. "What I still can scarcely believe. There's been another insurrection." The word was like a plague on the guards, their faces hot and pale. "And it…" She seemed to fight for words. "And it was Goku."

"WHAT?!" both Grand Guardians cried.

"Goku's alive?!" continued Horkion.

"Yes, and he didn't exactly give me a chance to celebrate," said Nevrrest, shaking with rage, "As soon as he found out from Oom'Bagu what had happened…all that had happened…he apparently decided that I was no longer worthy of leading the Justice and that Oom'Bagu would be better fit taking my place." Her darkened eyes burned. "They attacked me! They even hurt Sepis!"

"Hold up, what?!" Laswe piped.

She told them. She told them how she had eventually wandered out of her room to the control center of The Hammer as a place to gather her thoughts. It was there that Goku and Oom'Bagu had found her, declared her a failure to the Justice to having allowed all those deaths to occur – saying she had been too distracted by Vegeta and should have stopped Un's insurrection from ever happening. She explained how they had tried to take her down by force and Sepis had interfered and saved her. All while she looked angry, hurt, and grim.

"I never thought," she hissed, "I just never thought either of them would…"

Laswe had landed, his transparent wings stiff as he glared at the floor. "Well I can't say I blame them," he snarled, "I'd be half-tempted to find a scape-goat for all this too. And you…" He looked at Nevrrest angrily. "After that…that thing you did in the courtroom…I can't blame Oom'Bagu for losing faith in you! He's an empath, you moron! Do you realize he felt every single one of those guys…" He couldn't finish with the guards and marshals standing there. A secret was a secret.

But Horkion's thoughts were on other things. "What did you do to them?" he demanded.

She gave him an abhorant look. "What did I—?!" She drew a deep breath, struggling to be professional. "They've been detained…for the time being. What will happen to them I don't believe is my decision to make. And…despite this, a friend like Oom'Bagu deserves…"

"Well at least you're thinking straight again finally," Laswe muttered. He cursed heavily in a trade language and looked at the bodies again. "And…and what about this mess?"

Nevrrest's feathers ruffled as she drew a breath. "We were wrong to try to hide it. We must find the one responsible for this and deal with him or her."

Horkion stared at her with disbelief. At first he thought she was suggesting they publicly admit her fault in the prisoner deaths. But then he realized she meant something else entirely. She wanted to find the person who had decorated the Judicial Deck with corpses and blood…and see that they suffered the consequences. The sole consequence.

Horkion's stony brow lowered. "That's not ri—"

"Alright, yeah, fine," Laswe agreed, "Let's start investigating."

Horkion's jaw hung a bit as the guards murmured their agreement, beginning to more carefully inspect the bodies. Horkion grabbed Laswe's arm a bit more harshly than he meant, pulling him aside. "Blame it all on the person who desecrated the bodies? Laswe, that's wrong! Horribly wrong!"

"Look, can't you see what's happening?" Laswe hissed back, his flesh taking on a new shade of magenta violet, "Some…genius that was in that courtroom with us got the bright idea of doing this to expose what Nevrrest did. Someone who can't see the bigger picture."

Horkion looked off guiltily. "Maybe we were wrong then to try to hide it."

"Maybe someone else here can't see the bigger picture here," Laswe squeakily grumbled, "You think that we can afford to lose Nevrrest's reputation? After…this shit with Goku and Oom'Bagu and all the others." Laswe's many legs scraped at the floor, sounding like a chorus of angry tap-dancers. "No, Horkion. I will not lose the fleet to this. If someone was this short sighted and stupid…they deserve what's coming to them."

Horkion wanted to protest more, but Laswe was pulled away by the call of one of their guardsmen. "I found something!"

They gathered around as the guard pointed at a strange indention in the corpse's shoulder. One of the marshals looked at the mark with a darkly furrowed brow. "Those are teeth marks."

"What?!" Laswe angrily piped, "You gotta be—that's psycho!" He buzzed into the air. "Get a doctor to look at this!"

Since only Horkion could think of a doctor who wasn't consumed with work at the moment, he made the call. Dr. Leaton appeared, his lab coat hastily draped over his shoulders and glancing professionally about. But upon examining the mark, his calm attitude turned shaky.

"It…" He swallowed and looked up at the gathering of eyes. "It is indeed an incision made by teeth. Primate teeth, to be exact. Omnivore."

Laswe cursed foully in the trade language again. "We're dealing with someone who's gone completely nuts!"

Horkion's instincts fired off another warning and he looked at Nevrrest. It was almost as if a mist had covered her face, her feathers flattened and tail arched. "You…" she hissed, "So you think you can…" She touched her fusion band. "Computer! Locate Prisoner 0001!"

Laswe's jelly skin took on a white hue. "Oh no. Nevrrest. We—!" But they were already marching down the halls before he could continue, leaving a portion of the guards behind to watch the bodies.

(**Scene Break**)

Wait. It's all Vegeta could do. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told Kakarot that he'd played his last card. There was nothing more he could do – only wait to see if Kakarot had succeeded, studying the mark Nevrrest had left on his palm. The holding cell was small and brightly lit, the walls offering no blurred reflection for him to contemplate as his one on Seven had. As he waited see what fate had in store with him, he noted the progress of his healing injuries. The medicine that guard had given him had so far restored all the minor wounds from the fight – the cuts, scraps, and bruises. The deeper, more serious ones were also on the mend. Not that any of that would matter if the promise wasn't revoked. But it was outside his warrior nature not to consider such things.

Hours passed. Probably not more than a few, but he couldn't keep track. Time seemed frozen, unchanging and unaltered. He wondered what Kakarot's plan was – how he intended to force Nevrrest to release him from the vow. Did he even have a plan? Somehow, he doubted it. It would be just like Kakarot to march off to face someone with no clear idea how he was going to get what he needed from them. And with his life on the line, he didn't find that concept very promising at all.

Then another thought crept in. He hadn't expected to start thinking about it, now of all times, but it seemed the topic was inevitable. Nettelish…no Breet. She had been a Saiyan. Not only that, but the only female Saiyan he had encountered since he was a small boy. Thinking back on it, it made perfect sense now why that form of Un's had…affected him so much. He shook his head and growled a little. It was pointless to even think about. She had been dead long before either he or Kakarot came to this fleet. All the same, Kakarot's simple but ringing true remark kept coming back to him. Still…she was one of us.

It doesn't matter, he thought bitterly, She's dead. Just like all the rest of them. He looked at the cut on his palm, quaking with helpless anger. Just like I'll soon be.

The door opened. His gaze jerked up and he saw orange and blue.

Feathers. Orange and blue feathers.

Vegeta's lips curled back viciously as Nevrrest stood before him, the darkness about her eyes as deeply etched as the writing of a tombstone.

(**Scene Break**)

Goku's jaws locked open in horror and resistance as the vicious murky arms pulled him down into the darkness. He didn't know what Nevrrest had done to him, but one thing was for sure, he was going to get out of it! But the arms were strong – impossibly so. Maybe it was just because of his loss of strength from the collar that it felt that way, but he had a feeling it was more than that. Something about the arms told him that once they got a hold of someone, no matter how powerful they were, they wouldn't let go.

On that thought, he continued to struggle for a solution. But he didn't find one. Goku cried out in horror as his body started to dissolve right before his eyes, crumbling into sand. "What?! No!" he yelped, squirming desperately as his limbs unraveled, "I-I gotta get out of this!" But the more he flailed the faster he fell apart. In the end, he could only watch desperately as his torso fell away, screaming as his head at last disappeared.

There was darkness. And cold. Goku became aware of these two things before anything else. Worst was, he wasn't even sure how he knew those two things were there cause he couldn't sense anything. Everything he'd ever know, his sight, his smell, taste, and touch – they were all gone. Yet still, there was somehow awareness. He knew it was all there, yet he wasn't a part of it anymore. Not even the darkness and the cold.

Slowly, that awareness grew in understanding. There was more around him. An icy, barren landscape surrounded him in every direction. To one side, there was a great lake filled with endless gallon of blood. The blood boiled and steamed with frightening heat, and yet it did nothing to warm the wasteland it resided in. In another direction, there was a terrible forest of spikes, shiny and glittering with yet to be felt pain. And everywhere, everywhere there was a cold wind that blew up ice shards, coating the wilderness. Goku recognized the place. There was only one place in the universe like it.

This was Hell.

"But…how did I get here?" Goku asked aloud. He had a voice! His awareness grew. Finally, he came to realize his own existence. He was a floating soul, like a flickering flame of blue fire, shivering against the icy winds that swirled about him. "Oh no! My body!" he cried, the flame twitching about, "It's gone! It's really gone!"

He didn't even know what to think. Since the day he'd been born, he had never once been without his body, not even Otherworld. As one of the honored dead, he'd always been allowed to keep it. In that, he had never considered what it would be like to be without one. It was awful.

But he didn't have long to consider this. He cried out in horror again as he saw that the hollowing winds were starting to form ice around him. "I…I can't stay put!" he gulped, or would have if he still had a throat, "If I do, the ice will freeze me for sure!"

Yes, he remembered now. Goku had been to Hell before, but he had never had a problem with it. As an extra special reward, he was one of the few honored dead who were allowed to roam the entirety of Otherworld freely instead of being kept to whatever section of Heaven they were placed in. More than once, trouble had been stirred up in Hell and he'd been happy to go help. But he had never once felt the cold or been frightened by the lake or razor-sharp forest. The light of his halo had protected him from all that.

It didn't make sense. He had no idea how he had got here or how Nevrrest had managed to take his body from him. But now he had to think fast or he would surely never escape. He thought hard as his soul hovered forward, trying to evade the freezing winds. Vegeta had once been a soul trapped in Hell. Of course, it wasn't something he'd talked much about, but Goku had caught little hints of things. Sleep. Vegeta had mentioned being trapped in a terrible, nightmarish sleep.

The winds clawed at him like hungry fingers and the answer to this whole place suddenly became clear. "So that's it," Goku's soul shivered, "You have to keep moving or the wind will catch up with you and you'll be frozen. That must be what happened to Vegeta…" Now he understood why people had always talked about 'souls wandering in Hell forever'. But he couldn't let that happen. He didn't know how, but he had to find a way to get out of here so he could help Vegeta.

As he continued to wander, suffering in the cold with no warm arms to wrap around himself, he became aware that Hell was as infinite as it was small. It was an endless wasteland, yet no matter where he went neither the Blood Lake or the Needle Forest was far away. Slowly, he began to understand what their purpose was. They were temptations. No matter where he went, the freezing winds were always right behind him. The only way he'd be able to find escape from them was if he took refuge in either the Needle Forest or the Blood Lake. But in those refuges a soul would only find more suffering. The Needle Forest would prick and tear at a soul, the Blood Lake would suffocate and burn at it until the soul in question desperately fled back into the terrible, freezing winds.

But what choice did he have? He wasn't get anywhere wandering in the wasteland. Maybe, if he risked it, he could find the answer to getting out of here in one of those two locations. The question was, which one should he go for? He uneasily considered them both. Neither was more appealing than the other. But in the end, he choose the Blood Lake, based on the assumption it would be easier to explore and search for a way to escape.

Creeping to the end of the bloody shores, the clawing wind did indeed fade away. But no sooner had the wind died that it was replaced by the terrible, nauseous smell of the Blood Lake. Even without a nose, he was aware of it all around him, composed of all the most terrible scents he knew – fresh corpses, burning villages, dry-cleaned suits, and doctor's aftershave. It was a cocktail of all his most hated smells as though they had been all mixed together just for him. And then there was the heat. It was all the burning of a fire without any of the comforting warmth, causing horrible pain and fright. All this rose from the boiling blood that curled and congealed on itself in a most disgusting manner.

The lake was more terrible than he had imagined and it took all his determination not to flee from it back into the frosty winds. The blood boiled and splattered just below his fragile soul as he pressed on. If he still had eyebrows, they'd be lowered. But despite his efforts, the lake proved just as infinite as the wasteland. And yet, the shore was always within reach. Another temptation. Another torment and mockery of Hell. Still, he refused to give up. This place wanted you to give up, but Goku wouldn't give in.

After what seemed like forever, his efforts finally bared fruit. Out over the lake, he spotted a new sight – another soul. It was probably an evil one, considering it was in Hell, but it looked no different than his did. Perhaps it wasn't evil. Perhaps it had become trapped here somehow the same he had. Whatever the case, it was the best hope he had so far so he edged closer to it.

The other soul jumped – if souls can jump. "What's this?" said the soul, "What are you – go away!"

"Hey, it's okay!" Goku replied, trying to be as assuring as a bodiless person can be, "Sorry if I startled you. I don't know how I got here. Do you think you can help me?"

"Help you?!" cried the soul indignantly, "How and why would I do that?! Can't you see I'm busy suffering here?!"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt," Goku apologized, though he wasn't sure how suffering could be interrupted, "It's just I really need your help! There's—"

The soul flickered impatiently as Goku stopped short, yelping and dodging to the side as there was a spray of boiling blood up from the lake. "Well?" he snapped, "Are you going to tell me what it is? Stop bothering me!"

But to Goku's confusion, he suddenly realized he couldn't quite remember what it is he wanted to ask. "There…something about a friend," he struggled, "He needs my help…I think. And…I don't belong here!"

The soul gave a vicious snarl. "How would I know if you belong here or not?! I don't care about you! Now leave me in peace!"

"No, please, wait!" he cried as the soul floated away, "I have to—!" But it was too late. The soul fled to the edge of the Blood Lake and disappeared into the frosty winds.

A feeling of true hopelessness descended on him. He'd struggled so hard only to come up with nothing. And why was it becoming so hard to remember what he had to do? He was certain that not too long ago he knew exactly what his goal was. Now it was becoming fuzzy and distant. He still remembered he had a friend he needed to help, but he couldn't remember anything about them or why they needed help. He knew he didn't belong here, but he couldn't remember the events that had led to him landing in this place.

For a while longer he ventured across the Blood Lake, but no more souls appeared to complain about being disturbed. Wondering if the freezing winds were as bad as he remembered them, he finally left the lake, heading for the forest instead. Once again, the temptations of Hell got to him, the winds cutting into him as soon as he left the lake and urging him to return. Surely the heat and fumes of the Blood Lake weren't as bad at this! Or perhaps the shelter of the Needle Forest would provide a better comfort. This is what his soul screamed for, but he knew better. Whether he was in the Wasteland, the Blood Lake, or the Needle Forest, Hell was Hell. And the only way his suffering would end is if he somehow managed to escape.

The Needle Forest loomed before his quivering soul, the ice cropping up in his wake. He searched for a safe entrance through the silvery spikes, but found none. It was either dive straight in through the razor branches or not enter at all. The apprehension was painful, but he prepared himself to rush in.

"You won't find your answer in there," said a familiar voice, "And I think, in your heart, you know this."

Goku's dwindling flame of a soul flared with hope as he became aware of a presence standing behind him. For some reason, it took some serious focus, but he finally perceived the body of white fur, each strand peacefully dancing on the wind. Those warm brown eyes. He knew them.

"Oom'Bagu!" he cried, his soul wiggling about, "Oh boy am I glad to see you!"

"Concentrate, Goku," he commanded, striking him with the calm and authority of one of his old masters, "What I am doing right now is extremely dangerous for us both. You have to reach me or risk plummeting us both into a coma."

"Coma?" Goku asked with confusion, "And what do you mean reach you? You're right there!"

"No, I'm not, Goku," Oom'Bagu corrected, his warm, firm gaze unwavering, "This is merely your emotional perception of me I am drawing out of your mind. I am not here." His brow lowered. "And neither are you."

The confusion struck Goku hard, but he didn't have a moment to unravel it before he realized the ice was forming around him. "Dah!" he cried, "Sorry, Oom'Bagu, but I gotta move!"

"No, stop! You must stay with me, Goku."

"But I can't!" Goku helplessly protested, "I have to keep moving or the winds will freeze me for sure!"

"If you continue on this course, you will never escape." That was enough to make Goku hesitate. Oom'Bagu held him under a heavy, parental gaze. "If you wish to find your way out of this nightmare, you must trust me."

Despite the ice that was already beginning to form its first layer around his soul, a warrior's calm passed over him. "Alright, Oom'Bagu," he firmly answered, "Just tell me what to do."

The Gregorik relaxed, filled with relief and hope. "What I'm asking will not be easy, but it is the only way." He stepped closer, the merciless blizzard of Hell swirling harmlessly around him. "You must cease to feel all that you feel right now."

"Stop feeling?" Goku asked, confused, "But how do I do that?"

"Not to stop feeling entirely, that is impossible," Oom'Bagu wisely explained, "But every emotion is like a mouth asking to be fed. To escape this place, you must cut off the food supply of every emotion you currently feel."

"I think I understand," he answered hurriedly.

"You must understand," Oom'Bagu insisted, "You must empty yourself of all that is currently upon you. But it is not a simple matter of choosing not to feel. You must take all that would feed these emotions and feed another instead."

Now he really was sounding like one of Goku's old masters. If he still had a chin, he would have nodded. "Okay. Feed another emotion…" He nervously noted the cocoon building around him. "Will that stop the ice?"

"If you succeed? Yes."

"Okay. Here goes then." Though Goku couldn't remember a lot of things at the moment, his training was like instinct. He didn't have a brain anymore, but somehow he still had a mind. So he cleared it, emptying it of all thoughts and just focused on feeling, taking a tally of each emotion as best he could. There was pain for certain, as well as bit of anger and fear. He focused on pushing those away and tried to bring up another emotion. Sadness maybe? Perhaps he could try feeling sad about being here. He went for it, concentrating as hard as he could on all the reasons why he should be sad—

"No, stop!" Oom'Bagu barked.

Goku's soul jumped. "What—what I'd do wrong?!" To his horror he realized he was perceiving Oom'Bagu now through a thin layer of ice.

"You are still feeding your most powerful emotion. You are determined, Goku. While it is one of your most admirable traits, you must let it go. You must…" He hesitated. "You must stop fighting."

Goku let that sink in. It was heavy. "So…you want me to give up?"

Oom'Bagu shook his horned head. "Never. But sometimes, we must accept our inability and give up our destiny to other hands. And have faith." He knelt by the tiny soul. "Tell me, Goku…where does your faith lie?"

Again, Goku was puzzled. "I…I don't…"

Then he heard a sound he had forgotten existed. Laughter. The tingling of it almost startled him, even though it was only a distant echo. Slowly, he focused on this and became aware of a little white bear running with a stick in his hand. The figure was a like a ghost, fading in and out of perspective, the little bear dressed in a woven coat of bright colors. Laughter echoed back and forth as the little bear batted a shiny ball with the stick.

It was a game. A game he was playing with someone else. More distant laughter echoed and he realized the little bear wasn't alone. The was another much bigger bear with him, crowned in horns and holding his own stick as he batted the ball back at the little one. It only took a moment for Goku to realize that the little bear was a child and the larger one was…

"Hey, Oom'Bagu, it's you!" Goku exclaimed.

Oom'Bagu said nothing as Goku continued to watch the scene play out. There wasn't anything of great significance to it, just a father playing with his son. But Goku felt captivated by it. Somehow, it reminded him of something. Something important. Another thing that had slipped away from him.

The ghostly father and son eventually finished their game, drifting through a snowy landscape till they reached an oddly-shaped house of stone. Another Gregorik with tiny horns was getting out of a vehicle, a baby on their back and their arms absolutely loaded with shopping bags. The phantom Oom'Bagu looked at this other adult and shook his head with dismay at the load they carried. It took a while, but after noting the other's clothes, he realized that it was a woman Gregorik. No, it was more than that. He watched her carry her mound of shopping into the house, the child Gregorik skipping after her inside. Not just a woman, this was a wife. Oom'Bagu's wife.

Another layer of ice formed over his soul, but Goku didn't even notice. He was far too struck with a thought. "Chi-Chi…"

She appeared before him as a ghostly figure now, standing in their kitchen by the warmth of the hearth. Her big, dark eyes sparkled at him through well-kept bangs, smiling with a tenderness that made his heart feel big. "Oh Goku," she purred.

"Chi-Chi," he said again, the image of her becoming sharper.

She closed her eyes and giggled so crisply that the apparition seemed more real than anything else. Chi-Chi. His wife. In his life, he had been lucky enough to receive two sons and many friends, but there was only one Chi-Chi and he was hers. Her remembered on the day he had agreed to marry her, he didn't even know what a wife was. Even on their wedding day he hadn't been certain of all the details. But now, if anyone asked him, he could answer with certainty what a wife was.

Wife was the arms he could be happy in when the fighting was done. Wife was the smile that always found him, no matter what storms came. Wife was good food made by tender hands. Wife was a bed where good dreams always found him. Wife was the person who made a house a home. Wife was the person who made boys sons. Wife was peace, contentment, and joy. And no matter where he went, what battles or adventures found him, wife was the reason each of those journeys came to an end.

And just like that, it all vanished. Goku felt his eyelids wiggle heavily, almost sore with the desire to stay shut. Around him was eerily quiet, but for the dim hum of machines. Goku forced his eyes to open, feeling disoriented and confused. The lighting was very low, but he could see well enough to make out Oom'Bagu looking down at him through a dome of glass. His large, furry hand touched the glass and it peeled back. Goku gave a heavy, groggy groan, which came out muffled due to a breathing mask on his face. He wanted to sit up, but his entire body felt like a mountain.

Oom'Bagu leaned over him and pressed a hand to Goku's shoulder. "It's all right, Goku, you're almost out of it. Please do your best to relax."

Goku weakly nodded, his mouth dry and his brain foggy. Oom'Bagu reached toward his face and plucked something sticky from his forehead. When he lifted it up Goku saw it was a strange disk that he vaguely recognized. Oom'Bagu crushed it in his fist and things became a little more focused. He looked down at himself and saw he was lying it some weird sort of coffin-like bed with sensors all over his body. There was a breathing mask over his mouth and nose as well as some sort of tube running past his tongue into his throat. He realized after a moment it was a feeding tube. What had happened to him?

Oom'Bagu started murmuring something to him in his native language – a low-key, soothing song – as he worked over him, carefully removing the sticky sensors from his body. The machine Goku was in started to give off a wail, but Oom'Bagu pressed something and it stopped. Goku blinked heavily, trying to clear the fog that filled every corner of his head. But despite his confusion, Oom'Bagu's song made him feel warm and comfortable.

Everything was peaceful until the Gregorik leaned over him again and started pulling something from his arm. Goku looked down and gave a muffled shriek through his breathing mask to see the IV needle being removed from his arm. His panic didn't last long, though. Oom'Bagu pressed his other hand to his forehead and such a wave of calm passed over him that he completely forgot about it. Finally, Oom'Bagu sat him up, removing his breathing mask and gently pulling the feeding tube out of his throat.

Goku wavered unsteadily, but gave a little smile. "Thanks, Oom'Bagu."

Oom'Bagu's eyes were heavy as he shook his head. "Do not thank me…you owe me no gratitude." Gripping him under the arms, Oom'Bagu lifted him out of the strange machine. Goku was confused why he didn't just let him climb out himself until his legs hit the floor and he realized how ridiculously weak he felt. Not just tired or sore, but absolutely weak. Oom'Bagu helped hold him up as he walked with him several paces and pressed a panel on the wall, a metal tube folding out. "Drink," he told him, "It will help."

Goku recognized the sight of the tube and mouthpiece and gripped it, placing it in his mouth. He sighed with relief as cool water gushed down his throat with each gulp. Oom'Bagu was right, it did help. Not only did it get rid of the cottony dryness in his mouth, it helped clear some of the haze from his mind. He continued to drink until he felt his stomach swell with it and finally let the tube fold back into the wall. Oom'Bagu watched him attentively as he sat him down on the floor, letting his back come to rest on the cold, metal wall.

Goku groaned a little and rubbed at his eyes, finally feeling conscious enough to take in his surroundings. They were in a small, dim room filled with a few dozen of those strange casket things like he'd been in, all tightly packed together. The room was a little chilly and he rubbed at his arm, pausing as his fingers passed over the glowing aqua numbers: 4747. His eyes shifted and he noticed for the first time that his gi was gone and he was instead wearing a uniform much like Vegeta's – only his was green.

Oom'Bagu shook his head, kneeling by him. "The number of wrongs and errors that have been committed this day…they are incalculable."

Goku squinted. He could remember now. His mind flashed with all that had happened before he had woken up here – how they had tried to arrest Nevrrest, how Sepis had turned on them, his conversation with Nevrrest before he had suddenly somehow found himself in Hell. And now he was here. He looked at his friend's weathered face. "It's okay, Oom'Bagu," he assured him.

"No," the Grand Warden answered, "It's not."

Goku felt around his neck where the metal collar was wielded, his fingers tracing back to the heavily encased and protected inhibitor chip that had stolen his strength. He looked up at Oom'Bagu and saw he was wearing the same collar…but he wasn't in uniform and there were no numbers on his arm. Goku blinked. "What happened?"

Oom'Bagu's shoulders slummed like they were carrying lead weights and he sat down next to Goku. "…I have discovered that my friend of many years is even more corrupt than I had ever supposed." He looked at him with wet eyes. "I'm sorry, Goku."

"No, don't be," Goku assured, leaning against the wall with tired eyes, "You just did what you felt was right."

"No, I did what felt right," Oom'Bagu corrected, "Protect the fleet, protect my friends, guard the home, and damn the rest."

Goku looked at him with surprise. "No, that's not true," he assured him, "You stood up to Nevrrest and I could tell how hard that was for you."

"Too little," he bitterly answered, "Too late." His eyes radiated pain. "I didn't listen to you, Goku. Not because I didn't believe you were correct – not in my heart. I didn't because I didn't want to…not until I witnessed what she was capable of with my own eyes."

Goku shrugged earnestly. "She's your friend. You're supposed to trust each other."

"Maybe. But not when billions of lives are in the balance." He looked at Goku and began to smooth his disheveled hair back into its usual shape. "Still…I am relieved I was able to at least free you from that unjust torment Nevrrest had condemned you too."

"Me too," Goku sighed with relief, shutting his eyes as Oom'Bagu fixed his hair, "I never want to be without a body again." His lids cracked open. "How did she do that anyways? Some kind of technique?"

"Technology," Oom'Bagu corrected, putting the last black strand of hair in place, "A simulation that takes place inside the mind. Nothing that occurred to you was real."

Goku's brow lowered a little, glaring ahead. "Sounds like something she would come up with. The kind of things she does to people – it's just wrong."

"She didn't come up with it. I did." Goku looked at him with slightly wide eyes, but Oom'Bagu couldn't look back. "…Nevrrest isn't the only one with a demon inside, Goku. I see now…too many of us did. Myself. Laswe. I imagine Nettelish did once upon a time as well…"

Goku blinked. "I don't understand," he protested.

"Not everyone who was brought back to life ten years ago was a righteous person. Frieza and his men killed indiscriminately – the good and bad alike. Some of those who came back to life had experienced Hell. I was able to use my empathy to catalog all the sensations of it and had Sepis create the simulation."

Again, Goku could only stare. "…Why?"

At last, the Gregorik looked at him, his brow steeped with sadness. "This is Prison Ship 7's solitary unit, Goku. Solitary is where misbehaving prisoners get sent. However…on Seven, the prisoners practically live in solitary as it is. So…" His brow lowered. "I wanted to create a place where they would get a taste of where they were headed."

"I guess that makes sense," Goku admitted, glancing over at the machine where he'd lived his nightmare, "But still…Hell's a place for people who had their chance but failed to do the right thing while they still had time. Sending someone there before they die…even if it's not the real thing…it just doesn't seem right to me." Oom'Bagu quivered, swallowing hard as tears began to leak from his eyes and wet his fur. Goku looked at him with concern. "Oom'Bagu? Hey, what's wrong?"

Oom'Bagu stood up and moved away from him, hugging himself. "…Goku, to free your mind from the simulation I had to fuse myself with you on an empathic level so deep that I risked being trapped in the sea of your emotions forever. In doing so…" He blinked out another wave of tears. "For that time, I saw the universe the way you do. And it broke me. Shamed me." He looked at him, no longer trying to hide his pain. "I understand now why Misado shared it's energy with you the day you arrived on this fleet. You truly are pure of heart." He gripped his chest. "And I…am so far from it."

Goku looked at him kindly, his brow softly creased. "Hey. That's not true. You're strong and kind and a great leader. If anyone has a chance to make things right, it's you, Oom'Bagu."

Oom'Bagu shook his head. "No, Goku. The only chance I had to make things right in the slightest was by tricking Nevrrest into sending me here so I could free you from the Hell simulation."

"Wait, you tricked her?" Goku asked with interest.

"Mm," he nodded, itching at his ear, "You see, Gregoriks have a natural ability to manipulate another's emotions. It usually only works on other Gregoriks, but as you well know, I am the exception to the rule."

"Ooh," Goku said with growing interest, "So how do you do that?"

Oom'Bagu actually laughed. "You sound once again as if you're hoping I can teach you." He shook his head. "You know how whenever you speak to someone, you hope your words will make that person feel a certain way? It is the same with this skill, only we use our empathic powers to suggest a certain emotion. Among my people, it is an ordinary part of conversation. But among others, it is considered extremely invasive so I usually try to avoid it. But after the way Nevrrest breached my trust…it only seemed fair I returned the favor."

"Ooh," he said again, "So you just talked Nevrrest into sending you here just so you could help me?"

"'Talked into' is not an apt description," Oom'Bagu rumbled, taking a seat next to him once more, "I more accurately I enraged her to the point where she decided to give me the same punishment. Originally she was just going to lock me in one of the Hammer's holding cells." He nodded. "It was a gamble. I didn't know I would be able to break either of us free of the simulation, but after all that has happened…I owed you that."

Goku thought about this. "So…you were in there too?" Oom'Bagu nodded. "I did see another soul in there…that wasn't you, was it?"

"Another soul?" Oom'Bagu was silent for a moment. "No. It must have been him."

"Huh?" Goku looked in the direction Oom'Bagu had indicated, spotting one of the coffin-like machines that had its lid close. Goku's brow lowered and he grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, wobbling unsteadily towards the container. Oom'Bagu remained where he was, watching him. Goku's hands passed over the machines, leaning on them for support until he reached the closed one, bending over the glass dome that covered it. Inside, he could make out a mean-looking little man with a single horn in the middle of his forehead, sensors all over his body and a disc just below the horn. "Hey, I know him," Goku remarked, "I've seen him before."

"Mm," Oom'Bagu nodded, "Dr. Resetti. The one responsible for Vegeta's poisoning…or at very least, in part."

"I remember," Goku answered. His brow fixed, thinking of that angry soul he'd run into in the fake Hell. "So he's still in there right now?"

"Yes." Oom'Bagu glanced emptily at him. "Something concerning you?"

"Well…yeah," Goku admitted as he studied the doctor, "I'm wondering if you feel so guilty about creating that other Hell why you left him in there."

Oom'Bagu snorted a little. "I told you, Goku. I have a demon inside. I didn't say it went away." He rubbed at his chest. "But there's a more practical reason as well. It was very difficult for me to free you. I would have to take the same dangerous risk to free him as well. We have some manner of bond – I think that helped. Resetti a vicious, wicked man. I doubt it would have the same effect. And even if it did…" He gave Goku a hard look. "Would you really want to be trapped in this tiny room with an evil doctor?"

Goku turned pasty white. "Ah-hehehe!" he anxiously giggled, rubbing at his head, "No, I suppose—hehe—I guess not." Giving Resetti one last nervous look – like the doctor might ghostly rise out of the coffin and stick him one – he shuffled back to where Oom'Bagu was, leaning a hand against the wall for support. "So, what's the plan?"

"What plan?" Oom'Bagu grunted.

"You know, how we're gonna stop Nevrrest!" Goku enthused, holding up a fist, "I mean, you know her a lot better than I do. And you know this fleet."

Oom'Bagu shook his head, looking down as he sat with his legs crossed under him. "No, Goku."

"Oh come on!" Goku protested, holding out his hands, "I know she got the best of us—" His eyes shifted sadly. "Or Sepis did really…but we can't let that stop us! I mean, who knows what she's planning next!"

Oom'Bagu closed his eyes woefully. "Goku…I think you need to sit down."

Goku started. "Why? What's wrong?"

He drew a long breath. "…When I awoke, Nevrrest told me her plans…her plans to force Lawse and Horkion to submit to her will and put Vegeta to death."

Goku froze with horror and then steeled in anger. "Well then what are we waiting around for?! Come on, we gotta stop her!"

"Goku," Oom'Bagu said firmly, trying not to get upset, "…That was an entire twenty-four hours ago."

Goku lost his color again. "What?"

"It took me hours to escape the Hell simulation," Oom'Bagu continued, "And hours more to free you." He looked at him and Goku saw that his eyes were wet. "I'm sorry, Goku…but by now, Vegeta is surely dead."